Binding Light: The Art of Israeli Prayer
An Interactive Public Art Installation by Elana Langer
In Elul 2021, following more than a year of pandemic-related isolation and lockdowns, artist Elana Langer launched Binding Light: The Art of Israeli Prayer—a participatory art installation that traveled to 50 distinct locations across Israel. This ephemeral and immersive project brought “prayer mobiles”—delicate, handcrafted symbols of personal and communal prayer—into a wide range of public and private spaces, including cafés, restaurants, beach bars, synagogues, kibbutzim, shopping centers, and even trees.
Each mobile served as both an offering and an invitation—encouraging individuals to engage with the spiritual energy of the month of Elul, a period of introspection and preparation leading to Yom Kippur. Participants were invited to contribute prayers for themselves, their communities, and the world—transforming everyday spaces into temporary sanctuaries of reflection and intention.
The collected mobiles were ultimately brought together in Jerusalem, symbolizing the mystical convergence of prayers from across the land. The project served as a poetic metaphor for the spiritual journey of Am Yisrael—our individual prayers, born in the quiet of our hearts, traveling toward the spiritual center of the world to be collectively offered on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
Binding Light asked: What does it mean to bind our light—to take the fragmented aspects of our inner worlds and gather them in unity and hope? The project provided a visual and spiritual container for this question, honoring the diversity of human expression while pointing toward a shared sacred horizon.
